Just read a fantastic comic called ‘What is Left’ by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell

It takes place on a spaceship fueled by memories. There is an accident and the ship is destroyed and things go on from there. I don’t want to spoil much, as it’s light on plot (in a good way!), but the story goes into the memories that were fueling the ship in a super creative way. The book is more focused on the emotions and memories of the characters than the specifics of the plot. It’s a tender, intimate moment in a scary sci-fi situation. In fact, I think we’re given just the right amount of world-building info about the universe it exists in. It feels very grounded \ believable, including its sci fi surroundings.

The art is just stunning. Beautiful line work, evocative and expressive. She uses a limited color palate super effectively to differentiate between memory and the present and who is in the memory and who is an outsider. To actually just SHOW these complicated plot points through the art, and to not rely exclusively on writing it out, is a baller move.

The entire comic has a wonderful, free sense of space that works so well for mimicking the dream-state of the plot and also the physical reality of the space they’re in. Hyper realistic drawings of food and surroundings are juxtaposed with beautiful empty space. It’s detailed and very well rendered technically, and yet never feels busy. It feels breezy, lovely, sad and ominous the whole time.

Anyway, highly recommended. Packs a big emotional punch (that feels earned in a relatively short piece) and is gorgeous to look at. The object itself is on nice stick and the colors really pop. It’s also smaller than a standard comic, which is kind of fun. It’s an example of what comics can do that other mediums can’t.

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve been enamored with making comics that push beyond typical panels and word balloons, and I love the idea of making a comic that can be read by anybody, regardless of the languages they speak. Combine these with a fondness for the natural world as well as ancient, fantastic civilizations and you’ve got the fundamental elements of Mirenda.” - Grim Wilkins

I finally read Grim Wilkin’s ‘Mirenda’, after pining for the full story since seeing it in the now defunct ‘Island’ Magazine, and it was really great. It was a highlight for me in that magazine, and the trade is just more of the same goodness. Apart from being illustrated in a very unique and creative way, the layouts, and the fact that it is silent, make it interesting on some other levels.

When I first saw it, I was immediately struck by how free and open the page layouts are. I’ve seen plenty of comics move away from traditional panels, or going bonkers with panel madness (JH Williams III comes to mind) in an effort to find new life.

I would say ‘Mirenda’ is one of the best examples I’ve found in recent years because it feels completely organic, whereas sometimes it can feel like a cheap conceit. This technique, of having the panels and action flow into each other, perfectly compliments the free, flowing line that Wilkins uses for the main style of the book (I’ll get to the other styles he uses in a bit). It also underlines the open and very natural world in which the book takes place. It’s hard to capture nature’s grandeur in a literal box, which is why a nice vista in a comic will often get a splash page if we’re supposed to really feel it. Unlike that case, where you sort of pick your moments to show the scope of the environment to the reader, having each page be open and free contributes to how wild and vividly imagined this world is.

That brings us nicely to how beautifully the natural elements are drawn in this book. It’s just so lovingly done; from the tiny, carefully rendered leaves to impressive and foreboding mountain-scapes. Nothing hugely profound to point out except that its appreciable how much attention is given to each page and that the environment of this book is just as vital as the humanoids or creatures. It gives the book a charming and unique visceral quality, in that you want to swing on the vines and climb the trees and jump in the lakes. Everything glides gently into each other and the world feels connected and unified, in no small part owing to coloring, which is vivid, fresh, and not overly fussy. You can count the straight lines in this book on one hand. Everything feels organic.

an example of the ‘open panel’ style used in most of the book

the sparse use of language makes it all the more impactful when it appears. And look at that beautiful downed tree!

ANCIENT DREAM WORLD

I particularly liked the page where the main character speaks to an ancient statue, who then tells her about a different world. Using an entirely different technique to render that world, that world becomes distinct and separate from the world of the rest of the book. Its a small, but masterful detail that I appreciate so much. By using a different technique to build a world, that world is entirely different and special. That, to me, is visual storytelling at its finest, where the narrative is tied not only to drawings, but to the tools used to draw it (see also: Michel Fiffe) Top notch stuff. Similarly, the beginning of the book uses a different, B+W-ish painted technique that I took to be something of an origin myth. Seeing a giant god walking away is a very potent and cool idea. Reducing the color and adding visual heft to the scene renforces the feeling that this old and this was when things were different.

It’s maybe not the best thing to compare this book with, certainly not in characterization, but in a way it reminds me of David Lynch. He treats secret worlds with a heavy dose of mystery. But things are always immediately different. Sometimes a glimpse of something weird and distant and amazing can mean more than a thousand words about it. This book is great at captures moments of beauty and grandeur and distilling them into succinct, memorable moments.

God’s outta here

lovely twisty streets of the Old Town

The bits we see of civilization feel really well observed and worn. In the way that ancient cities around the world eventually wear themselves down into something organically human, you feel that same entropy in the city streets here. Clearly, these are meant feel lived in and to show that there’s a large world, with it’s own history, but we’re not burdened with the usual fantasy tropes. It’s not a kingdom in the north that’s fallen on hard times etc etc. I don’t need to read about trade routes or how magic ‘works’. We’re allowed to interpret it as we want to, and I appreciate being trusted to do so.

I also love how these drawings feel ‘freehand’. I get the appeal of drawing cities “right” but I think they lose exactly what’s on display here; a wild, fun feeling that I think mimics being there better than pure ‘accuracy’.

“Accept the Great Doom that comes from the Purifying Vurmm yaddayaddayadda”

I mentioned before that the book is largely silent, which I think is just brilliant. I don’t think it loses any narrative integrity for it at all. In fact, I feel as though the world comes alive because of it. You are constantly filling in sounds as you read and making voices in your head for the pictorial speech. Filling the speech bubbles with drawings must have been really challenging, especially when there’s a clear drive to tell a ‘tidy’ story (this tale is pretty lean and light on diversion). While that can be seen as a limit, Wilkins manages to get some really amazing stuff out of the technique, especially in this panel where these apocalyptic monks bubble shows the impending doom of the world superimposed right over the city. Really cool stuff!!

I enjoyed the feeling of being ‘off the hook’ about the history of this world and all of the needlessly complex world-building that fantasy often devolves into. Being free to imagine this place along with Wilkins felt a little participatory in a strange way. Without being able to rely on the inevitable creep of cliche, the reader is forced to live in the present with the characters. When characters feel strange things or have weird visions, it feels as though we are too, without having to worry about prophesy where someone is The One.

I purposefully stayed away from the plot since it’s not super linear and I don’t want to spoil anything that might resonate. I will say though, that its very nice to see two wild female leads eating wild boars and roughing up yokels. It involves magic, friendship and adventure. Thats kind of all you need to know going in, I think. I would say the plot isn’t as interesting as the relationship the reader has with the plot, if that makes any sense. Probably not.

Anyway, enough blabbing from me. It’s a great book, with memorable, friendly characters and a lovingly and brilliantly imagined world. Worth it for the line work alone. This book reads slow and smooth and you’ll find yourself going back again.

This Saturday the Party in Partyghost will be tablin’ solo at the Flywheel’s very first comicsfest! I’ll be bringing some prints, and other stuff and of course our comics!

Stop by and say hi! It’s very cool that my hometown is kicking off a new comics festival and I really hope it works out well for everyone. It would be great to meet some more local creators and talk shop or whatever. If you’d like me to draw you anything, hit me up at giantbluewhale at gmail and I’ll bring it with me to the show.

In other news, as the Ghost in Partyghost sets off an a musical recording odyssey for the next few months, I find myself thinking about my next solo comic project. Not sure what kind of shape it’s going to take just yet, but I’m hoping to make use of this time as best I can. I’ve been thinking about making one about my cancer experience but right now its feels Too Scary™. I’ve always had a hard time with bio comics in general and am reluctant to add to a genre I’m not super into, though I do feel like I want to express something. We’ll see I guess.

We’ve also been working on King of Pop #2 and I’m very pleased with our progress. I feel like you can really see that we sharpened our technique so far and I’m excited to get this issue going. It’s a bummer we’re going to have to take a few months off, but I should be at least 5 pages deep once Grant returns. It’s going to be a lot of fun with some really good character moments. I feel like all these characters are really coming into their own. I feel I know how to draw them now and how they act. I’m tempted to color this new issue in a different way than the first. I don’t want to feel beholden to my past color palettes, and I think it’s a good exercise to embrace new moves.

king of pop #2 page in progress

Deathlok 11 by Denys Cowan. What a cover!!

I’ve been working on another comic in the King of Pop Universe (lol) about the assassin Cyborg Dan that was inspired by an interview I heard I with Declan Shalvey and the incredible Deathlok run by Denys Cowan. Shalvey talks a lot about how to frame action scenes and how to choreograph them so they are exciting and, most importantly, understandable. I really love the way he does that. The scene of space and the action all make perfect sense to me. It’s a small detail to some perhaps, but over the course of his whole body of work, it’s an element that sets him apart (in a good way). He’s spoke much more eloquently about it himself and I highly recommend looking into it if you like to think about things along those lines. (not what I was thinking of, but cool: https://aux.avclub.com/marvel-artists-walk-through-the-creation-of-kickass-fig-1798273422 )

The Denys Cowan Deathlok run was something I just happened on in the cheap-o bins at my LCS Comics ‘n’ more in town. I love how loose Cowan is with his inks and how bold his use of shadow is. It made me realize I don’t really do much of that in comics, even though I like to look at comics like that. So I’ve been giving a shot. A pale echo at best, but I feel like I’ve been learning good lessons. Using that much negative space allows for some really cool and creative page layout decisions as well. I think I’m going to only use like 3 or 4 colors when I color it, so that the ink is the star…

I’ve been using a brush and nib for the first time, as opposed to pens and markers, and I’m really enjoying the freedom. You can do ANY LINE. Whenever you want! Still learning the tools, of course, but I’ve been inking KOP with a nib and it’s been pretty fun and I think it looks better for it.

But there’s nothing like using a brush to fill up a page with black ink. Using those use negative space fields also lets you come up with some very cool layouts that lean into techniques. Like in the example below, reversing the windows within colors. It seems simple, and it is, but it’s hard to wire your brain to make good composition decisions. Or mine at least.

In progress page of The Ballad of Cyborg Dan

I also went on a fun trip to an island in Rhode Island and found some time to draw which was really nice. A good time was had by all!

It’s con season and Grant and I are hitting the circuit hard with our Partyghost Comics delights. Literally 3 shows? What are we, machines?! I don’t know how we can do it, but we’re gonna try our best.

With the Northampton Print and Book Fair behind us, we set our steely gaze upon the Springfield Bing Comic-Con. It’s this Saturday, October 27, 2018 and we’ll be there with Bad Movie Masterclass, King of Pop 1 and way more. But will anyone want our comics? Only time will tell.

I’ve been on a big Decadence Comics kick lately. They are an art collective from London and Athens, respectively, spear-headed by two artists named Lando and Stathis Tsemberlidis. They each bring their own flavors to a extremely well conceived but disturbing gumbo.